Improvement in shirts



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Shirts.

Patented Aug. 3,1875.

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UNITED STATES PATENT @Erica FREDERIC A. RICHARDSON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN sHIRTs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 166,411, dated August 3, 1875; application tiled March 23, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERIC A. RICHARD- SON, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk .and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Shirts, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to improvements in shirts for men and boys7 wear, and has for its object the production of a perfectly-fitting, yet cheap, shirt, one requiring less material, less labor to manufacture, and costing less to laundry.

It is well understood that flannel or other unstarched under garments should be constantly worn, both during winter and summer, because thereby the body is better protected from sudden and injurious changes in the weather, and moisture of the body is quickly absorbed. v

To be well and comfortably dressed it must be assumed that all lmen do or should wear light under-garments of flannel or suitable Inaterial, and of a thickness adapted to the climate in which they may reside. Then over or outside of the under-garment it is necessary to have, and taste demands, a laundried shirt having a goodfitting bosom, and otherwise made comfortable for the wearer.

Laundried shirts as now made have liaps at front and back, and sleeves, and in such shirts the iiaps seldom add to the comfort of the wearer, but, on the contrary, are objectionable, inasmuch as they unnecessarily fill up the pants, often causing the pants to set badly. This is specially so in the winter season when the under-wear is thick and heavy, and in the summer, besides being bulky, the iiaps act to create additional warmth to that portion of the body covered by the flaps, which in the summer is not desired; and so, too, the sleeves add to the warmth ofthe arms. With a laundried shirt and without an undershirt perspiration of the body is apt to, and commonly does, spoil the bosom, and dampens and spoils the appearance of the laundried shirt. These shirts with iiaps tucked into the pants are confined to the person by waistband of the pants, and when the body is bent forward the front of the bosom is apt to ruck up or bend, and so also in bending the body sidewise.

False bosoms are made and sold to cover shirts worn next the body, said bosoms consisting of pieces of linen or paper of the shape of the bosom of the shirt, and do not have the cloth or paper extending under the arm, so as to form an arm size or hole to hold the bosom down, and keep the neck-band down on the neck. Such bosoms have been held down and against the body by means of tapes, strings, or bands passing about the body, and with such bosoms, the lower end of the bosom, being confined to the body, cannot adapt itself freely to, but must move with the body, and the bosom is liable to be bent or rucked up, as in other shirts with liaps; and, further, the edges or sides of such bosoms, not having material connected therewith, and passing under the arms forming arm-sizes, are caught by and between the Suspenders, and the bosom is bulged or swelled out by the action of the Suspenders against its edges 5 and, further, there being no arm-hole or arm-size proper, the neck-band is not held ydown, and the neck is often and commonly unpleasantly chafed, and the collar is thrown too high, and so as to set badly.

My invention relates to a shirt having a bosom, front, back, arm-size, and neck-band, as usual, but without iiaps at front or back, the bosom extending to a point a little above the waistband, so that the body can be bent forward without the bosom meeting with any obstruction which will stop it from sliding over the person and cause it to be bent, the fronts and back being as short as possible, but of sufficient length to extend under the arm, forming arm-holes or arm-sizes, which act to keep the shirt down on the shoulders, keeping the neck-baud in position, the fronts also acting to hold the bosom across the broad portion of the chest down, and connecting the edges of the bosom, preventing the Suspenders or vest from throwing out or making the bosom full by action against the edges of the bosom.

Figure 1 is a side view, showing one of my improved shirts on a person. Fig. 2 is a back View, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a single shirt.

In the drawing, a represents the under-shirt 5 b, the pants, and c the waistband. This improved shirt is made of a bosom, d, preferably heart-shaped, as shown, and open at front or back, the bosom being connected at sides with fronts e, and also at top with a yoke-piece, f, and neck-band g. The fronts e are connected over the shoulder with the yoke-piece f, and under the arms with the back h, the part lunder the arm holding the upper part of the bosom down on the chest, and also on the shoulders, keeping the neck band vin proper position. The arm-hole or arm-size is designated by the letter j. The yoke is connected with the neck-band and with the back.

It will be noticed that the lower end of the bosom does not reach to the waistband c, andv at its lower end the bosom is not confined to the person, so when the body is bent forward the lower end of the bosom moves freely over the space k, (see Fig. 1,) and when the body is bent sidewise the unconflned lower end of the bosom is free to move to the right or left, and the bosom will always remain smooth and a perfect fit.

This bosom, left loose and free at its lower end, and held against and about the chest or upper portion of the person, and down on the shoulder by the yoke, and the small frontpieces extending' under the arms, are the' essential characteristics of my invention. A shirt of this kind will require only about onethird as much material as an ordinary shirt. It can be made at one-half the cost, and is cheaper to laundry, and can be more easily ironed. This shirt is very easy to remove. It may be removed as a vest and without unbuttoning` the pants. It is therefore very handy for railroad traveling. It can be opened at front or back, need not be drawn over the head to disturb the hair. In traveling it takes up but little space, and it can be made to fit more perfectly than a shirt of ordinary construction confmed at the waist, and in summer is cooler than an ordinary shirt, and prevents accumulation of unnecessary cloth in the pants. A collar may be attached by buttons, in the usual way, or may form part of the neck-band, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. l, and the collar and bosom may be of any desired shape. Ordinarily it is not intended to provide this shirt with sleeves, the wristbands or cuffs being buttoned onto the under shirt, as at l; but' the shirt may be provided with sleeves, if desired.

In the manufact-nre of laundried shirts of fancy patterns, and of expensive materials, a shirt made as shown is productive of a saving of about one-half the cost of a shirt of same material made in the usual way.

In all cases I prefer a yoke-shirt; but the shirt might be made, but not as well, without a yoke.

As a new article of manufacture, a apless shirt, constructed substantially as herein described, and being composed of the bosom d, entirely free at its lower end,"to permit the bosom at that point to move easily over the person, of fronts e, extending from the bosom and under the arms as narrow bands fi, and of a short back, neck-band, and shoulder parts, all as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing' witnesses.

FREDERIC A. RICHARDSON.

VVituesses:

G. W. GREGORY, S. B. KIDDER. 

